


A New Normal

by MamaBear7319



Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Irondad, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:33:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26928955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaBear7319/pseuds/MamaBear7319
Summary: "Why can't we just go back to the same deal I had with May. As long as my grades don't slip I can do what I want." Peter knew how ridiculous the idea was the second the word left his mouth.Peter realizes that his life has drastically changed.
Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934734
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	A New Normal

Tony stood on the balcony overlooking the channel between Manhattan and Queens. They had settled on a building that was close to a bridge so Peter's trips to and from Queens wouldn't take too long. He actually liked the view. The building wasn't quite as tall as Avenger Tower had been, but it had a great area for Peter to swing off of as well as give him a pretty good landing spot for Iron Man. 

A lot of the building was still shell space. Pepper couldn't decide if she wanted to move one of the SI divisions into a couple of the lower floors or just leave them open for expansion. They had redone the top floor as their living space. May had a room there but much to Tony's dismay she had spent an extraordinary amount of time with Happy. Tony wasn't sure if Peter had just not picked up on it or if he was willingly ignoring it. Either way, he found the situation funny.

He and Peter had spent the last couple weeks installing FRIDAY. The team had helped with the security measures. They would be ready to move in the week before school started.

"Boss, Peter is two minutes out."

Tony smiled. "Thanks FRIDAY." They had fallen into a comfortable rhythm over the last couple weeks. They'd drive into the city, spend a couple hours either working on the wiring or setting up labs. Then Peter would head out and spend a couple hours patrolling. His curfew was still midnight and so far he had been really good about making it back before midnight. There was only one night that he had landed unceremoniously on the balcony a mere seconds before midnight.

If Tony thought Peter was awake enough he'd let him drive back to the compound. He was usually wired after patrolling so it generally wasn't a problem. Despite his less than stellar beginnings, Peter was turning into a pretty good driver. Good enough that Tony didn't think he'd have a problem passing his driving test in a couple weeks.

Tony leaned on the railing and watched Spider-Man do a ridiculous over the top flip to land next to Tony on the balcony. "Ok SpiderKid. No need to show off."

Peter shrugged. "It's been a good night. Stopped a couple muggings, a car jacking, an attempted burglary, and no one tried to stab me or shoot me."

"That is a good night. Go change and we'll head back to the compound." Tony watched Peter almost bounce back to his room to change. He didn't remember ever having that much energy.

Peter walked out of his room a few minutes later in jeans in a t-shirt with a backpack thrown over his shoulder. "Ready?"

Tony nodded and tossed him the keys. "Lead the way."

Peter pulled out of the underground deck onto the relatively empty street and headed towards the compound. While the streets of New York were never truly empty there was a vast difference between the middle of the night and the middle of the day.

"Do you need anything for your room? Or school? I think Pepper is going shopping this weekend."

Peter shook his head. "I don't need anything."  
Tony inwardly sighed. He knew Peter needed new jeans and tennis shoes but trying to get him to actively participate in the process was like pulling teeth. "So lets talk Spider-Man."

Peter glanced over at Tony with a look of fear. He snapped them back to the road when Tony gave him the look he knew meant pay attention. "What do you mean talk Spider-Man. What's there to talk about."

"I want to make sure we're on the same page on when you're going out. Homework has to be done first."

"But I always go out patrolling after school." Peter had a sinking suspicion that his life was about to drastically change. Last year, May had worked so much she had no idea when he was doing his homework. The rule was as long as his grades didn't slip she didn't dig too deep. Tony was starting to dig and Peter felt his freedom slipping away from him. He hadn't given it a thought before because it had been the summer but he was going to be living in the same place as Tony. Tony who didn't work in the normal sense of the word and who would probably be home every single day.

"You're starting your junior year and you're doing dual enrollment. Your workload is going up." Tony watched the expressions roll across Peter's face. He realized Peter hadn't thought through what it would mean to be living with adults that weren't at work all the time. Not only would Tony be there most of the time but really so would May.

"Why can't we just go back to the same deal I had with May. As long as my grades don't slip I can do what I want." Peter knew how ridiculous the idea was the second the word left his mouth.

"That's a giant no. You are not going to have free reign to do whatever you want. Dinner at home. Between all of us someone will be there."

"May is usually with Happy." Peter pointed out.

"And Happy is usually there too." Tony looked at Peter. "So do you want to talk about May and Happy?"

"No." Peter glanced over at Tony who was smirking at him. "It's weird. I mean it's Happy. And it's May." He paused. "Together. It's weird." He slowed down to get on the off ramp to head to the compound. "It's not that I don't want them to be happy. It's just pieces of my life have collided into each other and I don't always know what to do with it. My entire life is not normal." He glanced again at Tony after he came to a stop at a stoplight.

"Normal isn't something that's easy to define. Normal for you isn't the same as someone else. You just need to figure out how to be comfortable with your normal."

"That makes as much sense as when you told me to stay in the gray area." Peter shot Tony a snarky look.

"Look at it this way. Would you trade being Spider-Man for what you're considering to be a normal life?" Tony already knew the answer.

"No." Peter was indignant at the very thought. Spider-Man was part of who he was now.

"Spider-Man is not normal. And I don't mean that in a bad way. But I don't think anyone else at your school has an alter-ego. So if Spider-Man is part of who you are who's to say that's not your normal?"

Peter shrugged. "I get what you're saying. Spider-Man is my norm."

"And, having me, Pepper, May, and Happy in your life is also your norm. And don't think you're counting out the rest of them. I think Natasha trying to figure out how to negotiate some kind of custody agreement where you come to the compound on the weekends."

Peter laughed but also knew how serious Tony was. Natasha and Bucky has both voices their opinion on the fact that Peter wasn't going to be under the same roof as the rest of them. "We'll still go up there and train and run missions, right?" As Peter finished the sentence he started to panic.

"Training yes, Missions dependent on school. But that's not different than before. Back to regular Spider-Man. Curfew is still midnight. Grades don't slip. Homework done first. Dinner at home. But, if you want to do your homework at the library, MJ's, or Ned's that's ok too." Tony tilted his head and watched Peter process what he was saying.

"Ok. I guess that isn't too bad." If Peter were honest it really wasn't too different than what he did anyway, it's just that Tony was the one telling him. Before there was no one really holding him accountable. Now there was. He vaguely wondered if this is what Ned went through when he would tell Peter he couldn't do something because he was grounded. The only difference was that in Peter's case it was Iron Man grounding him. He suspected that being grounded by Tony carried a whole lot more weight than being grounded by Mrs. Leeds.

**Author's Note:**

> Up Next...
> 
> **Who Are You  
>  or Homecoming...again **
> 
> _Peter really wished they had skipped the dance. It was loud. Music was so so. Ned and Betty were having fun. MJ was having fun. Peter tried to enjoy himself. He just felt unsettled. Not quite Spidey sense going off...until it did._


End file.
